913. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Members were invited to acknowledge any declarable interests, including the nature and extent of such interests that they may have in any items to be considered at this meeting. None received.

914. OPEN FORUM

Viv Napper noted a presentation at a previous town council meeting and felt that the owner was proposing to develop The Crofts. She wanted to work with the town council and suggested the Neighbourhood Plan outcome would indicate what people thought of development around the town. She also advised she would apply to District for the notes of the pre application discussion with the architect.

The Mayor noted that an architect from Cornwall and landscaper from Kingsbridge had attended with regard to proposals for two fields on The Crofts. That proposal indicated that they wished to create a wooded area with 6 houses within and that they were proposing to benefit the community by supporting Egremont and providing a training facility, but he was concerned as their proposal put this in the middle of the District proposed industrial units on the trailer park. The Mayor agreed with Viv Napper in that she was correct that an application could be forthcoming but the architect did mention there would full consultation with the public. No information had been left and the situation was vague at present. Dist Cllr Wright advised that nothing at that point had been discussed with the District strategic planners due to the current application for the units. District Councillors had been invited to meet with these people and they had provided a pre application submission which District had responded to but the information returned was not in the positive. The current principle objection had come from County highways due to access as had always been the case on this site. Viv Napper enquired if Town Council were in a position to work with the community and the Mayor explained that this would need to be discussed as and when any information or application came forward.

Police Report – WPc Jo Pengilly had advised by email that the ‘crime system’ was currently down so she was unable to provide the actual crime figures for the past two weeks. She believed the only incident that had been reported was a dog incident. There was however a suspicious vehicle seen around a barn, possibly looking for boat storage units, so she asked all to please report anything they felt was suspicious.

The Drink Drive Campaign was now on its way and vehicles would be stopped during day and night to check for alcohol consumption.

District Councillors report – District Cllr Wright noted that District now had a policy for drone flying over District Council land such as had been copy and pasted from aviation authorities regulations in consideration of people/children sitting around and possible intrusive access. I was noted that this was only applicable on District Council land. The Council Tax reduction scheme been approved and extended and the treasury management mid year settlement was through but they awaited clearer New Homes Bonus information as currently it was rolled out for 6 years. A Consultation by Government at the beginning of last year had indicated they might cut this by 2 years and just pay for 4 years.

There was a question in parliament taken by Dr Sarah Wollaston MP to note that this time last year Government upped Stamp Duty by 3% to provide £60million to give to areas who had the burden of second homes. The outcome on this was awaited on the following day as notably Salcombe would obviously be a recipient. The Mayor enquired what such money would go towards and was advised it was ringfenced towards affordable homes. Government policy of 80% of market value house price was not dealing with the situation in this area as the house prices were so much more than other areas. A more acceptable level would be to bring down cost to 50 – 60% and Cllr Lang noted that getting people to build affordable homes was also a problem. Dist Cllr Wright felt that the District Council paper had been very good at highlighting this issue and he awaited the response. With regard to the Harbour Office in one of the District papers to be considered the following day there was a substantial sum of money (capital fund) to be approved towards rebuilding this office with the Information Centre included.

Dist Cllr Mrs Pearce apologised for not being at the meeting when Dist Cllr Wright presented the results of their consultation on Whitestrand and she hoped that town council now felt more settled about what District might or might not be doing in Salcombe. The proposal was to certainly involve town council in ongoing consultations. Another session at District had been held with regard to the local authority company to consider any risks involved and there was a risk register on which Dist Cllr Mrs Pearce advised some things were still scoring quite high, not all information was in but depending on this it was not a done deal as yet.

The Mayor asked if there was any further information with regard to devolution as in the press they said that Plymouth and Exeter were backing off. What did District Council think? Dist Cllr Wright said their verbal update had indicated three authorities; East Devon, Teignbridge and Torbay were concerned. Plymouth thought South Devon could be devolved but not West Devon and considering South Hams and West Devon were jointly run this would be difficult.

The Mayor noted that earlier in the year when the District Council approved planning by delegated authority the District Councillors agreed to ensure the reasons were shared with town council. However these had not been getting fed back on plans approved which were objected to by Salcombe Town Council. Dist Cllr Mrs Pearce noted this was usually because officers advised District Council would not win an appeal. She continued that they were not giving in easily and Dist Cllr Wright agreed they negotiated as much as possible but both agreed town council should get reports and would remedy this.

A few meetings previously the Mayor complimented how well the District online service worked for complaints but now wanted to reverse his comment. The system said there was a problem with his bin and could not process but the matter had never been sorted. The District Councillors would feed this issue back.

Dist Cllr Wright sought clarification on the needs of the Regatta Committee for access during one event and discussion took place with regard to siting on Whitestrand, Customs or Victoria Quay and this matter would be directed to the Regatta Committee.

915. MINUTES

The Minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 23rd November 2016 were considered and duly AGREED for the Chair to sign as a true and correct record.

916. CO-OPTION

It was AGREED to co-opt Niall Rudd as a town councillor and he would be provided with the Acceptance of Office and Declaration of Interests to be completed before the next meeting.

917. PLANNING APPLICATIONS:

The following applications were considered and such observations submitted to District Planning as below:
• 3392/16/FUL Retrospective application for change of use of agricultural building to marshalling yard, parking and materials storage to service building works The Cedar House, Moult Hill, Salcombe TQ8 8LF – Objection to allowing permanent usage change and it was requested that a temporary permission of 2 years be applied to accommodate any current local building storage use. This was to maintain control of ongoing use in such a sensitive area with a request that the land be returned to agricultural use once this permission came to an end and to acknowledge that a footpath goes through this field and should be protected.
• 3519/16/FUL Conversion of single dwelling house into two dwellings and extensions to front, rear and sides Vantage Point, Bonaventure Road, Salcombe TQ8 8BE – Objection to this site being made into two properties as this could have a significant detrimental impact on the sewage system which was anecdotally struggling. Also raised was that the application did not include the boundary walls installed nor highlight the properties using two accessways as the plans did not show any changes to the access onto the highway and yet a new access had been created Bonaventure end.
• 3523/16/HHO Householder application to change the exterior of the building from painted rough cast render to a cladded finish 4 Waters Edge, Thorning Street, Salcombe TQ8 8DW – No objection.
• 3531/16/FUL Change of use of redundant ancillary space within former hotel to residential use to allow enlargement of existing apartments, with associated alterations Sunny Cliff Hotel, Cliff Road, Salcombe TQ8 8JX – No objection.
• 3627/16/FUL Proposed garages, bin store, access path and associated landscaping to serve two dwellings approved under extant planning permission 41/2271/05/RM Lorima, St Dunstans Road, Salcombe TQ8 8AR – Town Council requested to know the extant planning permission was still valid as they were not aware of what works had been commenced. Access on this previous application was granted onto St. Dunstans Road not Devon Road as the Appeal in 2001 confirmed such access to St. Dunstans. Siting of four garages on the eastern edge of the plot against St. Marie would remove a significant element of hedgerow. Objection due to the impact on streetscene, AONB together with the highways concerns raised in relation to the condition of Appeal to access onto St. Dunstans.
• 3729/16/FUL Replacement of porches to Flats1& 2 with larger porches and extension of external terrace to Flat 1, 1 Glenthorne House, Devon Road, Salcombe TQ8 8HQ – No objection.

WORK TO TREE PRESERVATION ORDER TREES

• 3692/16/TPO T11: Multi stemmed Ash – crown raise to 5m on southern side, remove deadwood by crown thinning of 10% Bloor Homes Building Site, Salcombe View, Salcombe TQ8 8FP – Town Council had been unable to visit the site and thus would rely on the Tree Officer’s recommendation.Dist Cllrs Mrs Pearce and Wright left the meeting.

PLANNING CORRESPONDENCE

• Copy letter sent to District Council with regard to a property at North Sands but as it was anonymous this was for planning enforcement to deal with. Town Council asked the Town Clerk to write and request that the enforcement officer took this matter up as a report as town council felt it was in breach of the planning application.
• The tree warden advised that he had the opportunity to talk with the new owner of Beadon Farmhouse as well as the contractors carrying out tree works. He was comforted with the effort the owner had taken in speaking to neighbours overlooking her land with regard to the works underway, subsequent planting and landscaping linked to the works in a recently received planning application. The proposals for new Devon banks, hedgerows and generally more natural native planting appeared as if it would enhance that section of the lane, while opening up glimpses of the view out across the valley that had not existed for a number of year for those walking along the lane.

He acknowledged it look a bit of a mess while it was being done but once planting and growth was underway it would recover quickly. Reassured by the landscaping proposals overall and the fact that it involved natural and native planting of trees and hedgerows so that the area would see improved biodiversity and habitat for wildlife, he felt it would be an improvement visually. The planning application for this area was to be considered at the next meeting.

Further tree applications received and requiring a response before the next full council in January 2017. As town council had been unable to visit these before their meeting they also referred these back to the Tree Officer for his recommendation.
• 3943/16/TPO T1 & T2Pittosporum – crown reduction by approx.. 30% T3: Cupressus macrocarpa – Fell; T4: Beech – Shorten over-extended branch by approx.. 5 metres to junction parallel with side branch below; T5: Salix – Remove decayed limb approx.. 8 metres in length overhanging road to point of attachment. Overbecks, Lane from the Bolt Head Hotel to Sharpitor Gardens, Sharpitor, Salcombe TQ8 8LW
• 4010/16/TCA T1: Sycamore – Fell Vine House, Gould Road to Batson, TQ8 8NR

918. FUTURE OF SALCOMBE TOWN COUNCIL

The Mayor outlined concern with regard to attendance and the need to actively encourage others to stand as councillors so that numbers did not drop to a quorum. He explained that town council needed to place council meetings at the top of their personal agenda as a quorum was needed for meetings to go ahead. The Mayor personally disagreed that town council had no input in matters at district level as there had been cases when they had influenced planning decisions and also influenced other town matters. It was AGREED that a list of areas that town council was responsible for would be placed on the website along with a resume of what impact it had in respect of communications with other tiers of local government. It was also AGREED that all ideas for raising awareness of the town council would be brought to the January full council to discuss.

Standing Order 14(q) was used to stand the meeting down and allow Viv Napper to speak. She suggested that after the Neighbourhood Plan had been completed many of those people on the group would have planning knowledge and would be suitable to join the council. The Mayor agreed with this statement and advised he and had already spoken to some.

919. OPEN SPACES SPORT AND RECREATION PLAN

It was noted that Cllrs Biggs, Mrs Kemp, Mrs Sinnott, Mrs Bricknell and Baker would form a Working Party to take this plan forward and AGREED by those present that the date for submission of the draft plan would be by the end of February 2017. The final document needed to be produced before the Neighbourhood Plan was produced as such would refer to this content.

920. APPLICATION UNDER SCHEDULE 14 OF THE WILDLIFE AND COUNTRYSIDE ACT 1981

The process required to request that an application be made to investigate the route of a disputed path from Shadycombe Road to Gould Road, Batson Creek, Salcombe would need somebody to apply for a Schedule 14. Following consideration it was AGREED that town council were better placed to take on this responsibility than an individual and the town clerk was asked to proceed. The Town Clerk was also requested to include the Bakerswell steps/path although it was acknowledge that in its current state it was dangerous and who was responsible? Firstly the route for both these applications must be confirmed, or even two routes with a spur at the end and the landowner and DCC must be known to be duly notified.

921. NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN

The Mayor did not provide detailed feedback on the questionnaire as the group still needed to get together and decide how to publicise the information.
(a) It was NOTED that over 90% of respondents wanted to protect the character of the town and create design guides to do so incorporating AONB policies into the plan. There were issues with parking in Salcombe and protecting the town scape from unwanted development particularly in the Conservation Area but on the whole matter in the survey seemed to have more than 50% support. There had been 486 returns out of 1950 with 57% of people responding stating Salcombe was their principle residence. There would be a fuller report later in January to be publicised.
(b) It was AGREED that the Neighbourhood Plan could now be regarded as an emerging plan and as such items included in the survey were the ‘will of the people’ and as thus should be and could be used by town council in considering planning applications and as advised by Steve Jorden CEO District Council
(c) It was SUGGESTED that a suitable date for meeting with the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group could be early evening 6p.m Wednesday 4th January and this would be fed back.

922. SOUTH DEVON COASTAL LOCAL ACTION GROUP

A representative was requested by the above group to join their team on behalf of Salcombe to oversee the development of an Economic Plan for this coastal community and it was AGREED Cllr Fice would initially take this role on.

923. GRANT

A request from Salcombe Christmas Lights Committee for grant funding towards a bespoke ‘Merry Christmas’ decoration purchase at a cost of £618 was put forward and it was AGREED to request a copy of the accounts and that a representative attend the next meeting to allow any questions raised to be answered.Chris Derrick left the meeting.

924. MAYOR’S REPORT

The Mayor noted that Town Council had agreed to pay for the Remembrance Sunday buffet but David Moxham of The Fortescue Arms had since offered to cover this community event.

With regard to The Crofts something would come forward in respect of an application and this area sat outside the current development boundary and the emerging Neighbourhood Plan. The developers had stated they would have a full consultation but no one knew this for sure and with no plans no one was sure what they wanted would be just a wooded area with 6 low level houses, flat roofed. Anything in this location would be behind the gig shed and the Mayor suggested the land directly behind should be walked as it sat across from the Conservation Area so needed to be viewed. Accessibility was a problem as the current owners could only enter from Shadycombe Road. The Town Clerk was asked to request District Council to provide any historical information with regard to this site and ask that if and when an application was made that Town Council was notified immediately, before further information or discussions were held even if the application was not immediately registered, to allow town council time to arrange a public meeting.Viv Napper left the meeting.
The Mayor read out the responses received with regard to the letter send to Lloyds Bank on notification of the proposed closure. None of the points actually addressed in the town council letter had been answered. Also the comment that a mobile bank would be provided was questioned as to where such could possibly park in the height of the season. One alternative ATM was not enough for 20,000 people and Kingsbridge more than 6 miles away not as stated in the response. These responses would be copied to Dr Sarah Wollaston MP and Lloyds would again be asked to please respond to the questions asked.

925. COUNCILLORS REPORTS

Cllr Mrs Bricknell – Noted the telephone box consultation and asked what was happening. All should be asked to write in and support keeping it as town council had done and the notice from District objected to its removal.

Cllr Mrs Sinnott – Noted that school boys steps were slippery and the overhanging tree made it worse. The Mayor noted that the road between Bonaventure and Onslow Road had been cleared by the District Council road sweeper and were vert good. The tree was situated in Devon Court garden and would be reported on Devon County highways complaints.

Cllr Baker – Attended meeting 2nd December for the AONB Partnership Committee at SHDC as an observer. The meeting was total chaos as a splinter group was there but was interesting as he had a feel for what the AONB was all about. Val Mercer introduced herself as the representative to inform parish and town councils about AONB meetings and advised she sent Minutes to the manager for distribution but these had not been forwarded on as he had been ill. Roger English was the new in post manager and he was sympathetic to the planning point of view. If planning applications could go to him they would give support if agreed. The town clerk was asked to send Roger and Val an email to say please keep us informed.

Cllr Lang – Had cleared the valley of weeds on the roof on the Council Hall. He noted some tiles were cracked and whether this was because of the weeds or whether they were originally like that he did not know but they should be monitored.

CLERK’S REPORT.

• Roger Lidstone of Salcombe Football Club had advised that the pitch was suffering from molehills and he was concerned that the ground beneath might be moved and create potholes. He had asked if District Council had a mole catcher but was advised that they no longer provided such services.
• District Council had ascertained that many recycling sacks provided by them were not being used for their intended purpose. For this reason they wished to provide more outlets for residents to collect replacement bags whilst also retaining control of who such were provided to by obtaining a signature and postcode. The reason for their communication was to request suggestions for key sites to provide this service. Nowhere other than the current Information Centre identified.
• South Western Ambulance Service provided dates for their First Aid courses for 2017 over a range of requirements together with costs for such.
• Nikki and Bill Blanch passed on their thanks to the Town Council for the new path alongside Batson Creek. They commented that it certainly added to the pleasure of walking into the town now that they did not have to keep avoiding muddy patches, and were grateful that town council was able to spare the trees down by Batson Green.
• County Parish Paths Partnership forms received for completion with regard to outgoings over 2016/17.
• Report on trees owned by town council provided by Cllr Lang and Pete Robinson noted that the scrub at the edge of The Berry on St. Dunstans pavement required cutting and clearing immediately. With regard to what they could see from the ground there were no significant issues from trees where they were adjacent to public highways or footpaths or indeed overreaching or adjacent to any rural footpaths through the wooded areas.
Also nothing of any concern was noted except for the normal cutting back that may be required to keep tree canopies clear of roads, footpaths or buildings, however, there were none that, in their opinion, were sufficiently overgrown to require this work to be executed outside of the current contract timings. The area along St. Dunstans could be included when the flail was cutting back but the town clerk asked if quotes should be obtained to clear some areas to allow the smaller saplings to grow on? What about bird and bat boxes? Town Council decided that nothing additional should be done until the Lease was renewed or transfer of the land to town council took place.
Further detail in the following by way of a report on the Town Council’s wooded areas as follows:
THE BERRY: On the drive to the car park there was a small fallen tree resting against another tree that may have been an issue, but was of a size that Cllr Lang and Pete Robinson were able to safely push to the ground. It was suggested that this area (10-20m off St Dunstans Rd on the right-hand side of the track) may be suitable for some replanting. There were other areas within the woods that might offer space for more trees, however, it was felt that the canopy in those areas was such that in would impact on new trees growing there. This could be the case for the Luscombe-Maye Oak, which although growing, was not thriving and perhaps needed opening up around it. There was considerable bracken and undergrowth in many areas that Cllr Lang considered may need clearing. The footpath along St Dunstan Road (from the car park track towards Fortescue Road as mentioned above) needed cutting back sooner rather than later.
BONFIRE HILL CEMETERY: There were no issues arising from the trees in the cemetery or on the approach road to the cemetery. Cllr Lang did comment on the siting of the WI Oak in as much as it could present a problem in the future as it matured.
BONFIRE HILL ALLOTMENT: There were no issues arising from the trees along the boundary of the allotment from inside or along the Bonfire Hill cul-de-sac. The fallen tree that was removed from the hedgerow at the end of the Bonfire Hill cul-de-sac has begun to infill with bracken and other hedgerow plants, as predicted. Cllr Lang had been made aware of a possible issue with one of the hedgerow trees, but on visiting the site was unable to identify any issue.
SHADYCOMBE CEMETERY: There were no issues arising from the trees along the boundary or within the cemetery – this included the footpath from Forster Road to Shadycombe Road and the Shadycombe Road boundary. Cllr Lang did comment that the Holm Oak (the one raised as in a poor condition by Forster Rd residents) might be considered for felling to allow more room for the adjacent Yew tree to grow, as he felt it was being crowded by the Holm Oak. The Holm Oak was not, at this time, presenting any issue for the garages, as it was recently cut back.
REDFERN WOODS: Generally the trees looked to be in good condition, however, there was a lot of dead wood on the ground left over from previous works on fallen trees. There were a couple of pine trees that although they didn’t appear to be a danger might be considered in the next round of tree surveys for felling.
BONAVENTURE WOOD: There were no issues arising from the trees here. Currently there were no overhanging branches that could cause problems for vehicles on Onslow Road.
MARKET STREET (Parking Bays): There were no issues arising from the trees here and the recent tree works by volunteers had left the trees looking very tidy.
• Mortuary roof quotation did not include cutting out and redoing timbers just making the roof water tight. Therefore the recently obtained quotes for electricity and water had been obtained but awaiting quote for sewerage and all these matters would be sent back to the Mortuary working party as to the way forward on works for this building.
• Contacted Cty Cllr Gilbert as not successful in getting advice or information for an application for funding for street lighting. Now awaiting a call back from Les Pym.